How did you spend your Memorial Day Weekend?
After living my whole life here at the Jersey Shore, I’ve become gun shy when it comes to embracing the weekend summer traffic, the Bennys. I’ve always avoided that term because I realize these Bennys, while responsible for traffic, litter, spikes in violent crimes and a strain on shore communities also provide a seasonal financial boost for towns all along the Jersey Shore, including Jackson, as home to Six Flags Great Adventure.
On Memorial Day weekend, we stay close and haven’t ventured out of Jackson. Saturday started as a yard maintenance day followed by an afternoon poolside then a private family bar-b-q. This morning has been a lazy morning and I had a few projects to complete by Tuesday, so it was a work morning for me. Hoping the good weather sticks around, we’re having a small family bar-b-q again and will spend the afternoon again poolside, pending forecasted thunderstorms. Tomorrow is still up in the air, we’ve turned down all Memorial Day party invites because these days everything is hard due to the 6 month old baby boy, so we’ll probably end up at one of the parks if the weather is nice and like every other day this weekend, end it with a poolside bar-b-q again.
I’m in no rush to start summer, we have 4 full months of great weather ahead of us and to rub elbows with out of towners on a hot sticky day isn’t my idea of relaxation. In the summer, I usually take off one day a week and work Saturdays, so we do all of our beach and boardwalk activities on that day when there’s not as many crowds. For us, Memorial Day weekend has become a time of rest from the busy winter and spring. During the summer I have a part time gig in GoKidsNJ that has me traveling all around the state nearly three times a week meeting with businesses and taking in the surroundings.
How did you spend your Memorial Day weekend?
This week’s health and family news from GoKidsNJ
GoKidsNJ – For over 5 years, GoKidsNJ has been New Jersey’s premier source of family news, events and information. Each week, we gather health studies from around the internet and consolidate them into one easy to find location. Here are this week’s family health studies provided by www.gokidsnj.com
New drug may silence the peanut allergy
A new study finds that a botanical drug could provide the key to new treatments for…
1 out of 3 children overweight in U.S. or at risk
Obesity has become the most common chronic health condition of childhood. According…
From the minute my daughter was born, I asked the nurses to wake me up every time…
No one told them to do anything. But when David Shepherd and Travis Price heard how…
Five healthy and affordable family eating tips
With a new year often comes a new resolution to eat better and make healthier choices….
Television before two has no effect on children
A longitudinal study of infants from birth to age 3 showed TV viewing before the…
Digital Clamp Meters Recalled by Fluke Due to Shock Hazard
The meters can fail to give an appropriate voltage reading, resulting in the operator…
Digital Clamp Meters Recalled by Fluke Due to Shock Hazard
The meters can fail to give an appropriate voltage reading, resulting in the operator…
Youth Sports – Not just boys fun
May 15, 2009 by Phil Stilton
Filed under Opinions
Early on as the parent of a girl who was very interested in sports, I realized there were mild differences in people’s opinions on girls sports vs. boys sports. In general, boy sports were always given more social importance, baseball, football and hockey while the traditional girl sports were back seat novelties to the general community, softball, gymnastics, cheer. Even when you look at youth and scholastic soccer, the boys teams are given prominence, usually.
I sometimes remember back in high school, when the Toms River North Girls field hockey team won the state championship, the headline in the Ocean County Observer for the day highlighted the Toms River South vs. Toms River North regular season football game and the girls championship was given a sidebar mention. For me, it was alright at the time. I was a boy. I played football. Football was more important than field hockey at any cost.
Today, I received a study and excerpt from a book at GoKidsNJ that discussed this phenomena and social misunderstanding in a study presented by sports sociologist Michael Messner, a professor of sociology and gender studies at USC.
In his book he writes:
As a shared belief system, soft essentialism embraces participation by girls in team sports, Messner said, but it also justifies pushing girls toward softball even though they are legally entitled to play baseball – and often creates an inhospitable environment for female coaches in both baseball and soccer.
source: http://www.gokidsnj.com/youth-sports-gender-lines-still-clearly-drawn-what-to-do-in-nj/2009/05/
Early this spring, my daughter, a Yankees baseball fan asked about playing baseball. So naturally, I investigated the girls softball options within Jackson, thinking it would be better for her to play with the girls than to be one of a couple, if not, the only girl on a little league baseball team.
I was ready to sign her up for the municipal softball program until I found out that low registrations will probably turn it into an instructional league when I thought to check the Jackson Little League. I remember a couple girls playing when I played in the Toms River Little League and wanted to see if it was still allowed. Again, I’m told my mindset was normal and it is clearly dissected in Mr. Messner’s new book.
Eventually, the choice was clear, she was to play baseball, the game she enjoys watching and getting excited over on television and not softball, a baseball substitute crafted for girls only. She deserved it. She cheers for Jackson Pop Warner, is enrolled in a U.S. figure skating program, plays all-girl soccer and gymanastics, clearly fulfilling her young female sports obligations. Why not deviate from social expectations just a little?
Messner writes: However, individuals’ often unexamined beliefs about gender function to create a very skewed gender division in youth sports. And these continued divisions in youth sports reinforce an “unfinished feminist revolution” in families and workplaces, Messner argued.
The Jackson Little League so far has been great for her as she learns to play with the boys and be one of the boys, if only for just a few weeks out of the year. There are about 10 or so girls playing t-ball in the Jackson Little League and it’s always exciting for her when she plays “the other girls” and as a parent, you can see that special unspoken bond these girls have on the field.
At games, some parents don’t even realize girls are allowed in little league. At one game, I remember some guy at the game exclaiming “wow, they let girls play too? I didn’t know that”, obviously shocked to see the long hair from under the helmet. After she hit the ball pretty hard, his opinion was changed as he yelled “We got our new cleanup hitter!”.
So the reason I bring this article and study to Jackson is that if you are the parent of a young girl who enjoys watching the Yankees, Mets or Phillies with you, why not give her the chance to play the game and consider little league baseball before you throw her into a softball recreation league?
If this topic is of interest to you, you can also read more of Mr. Messner’s expanded findings at http://www.momsteam.com/team-parents/the-secrets-of-successful-women-coaches or check out his new book on the subject: It’s All for the Kids: Gender, Families, and Youth Sports.
Jackson NJ Online rubs elbows with New York Times and NJN on Chris Christie’s web site
Many times over the past few months I’ve debated on whether to continue on with this blog since it really does not fit into my overall picture of what I do and caters to such a small market, but in the past few weeks, I realized that if it can be something good and I treat it like a local extension of GoKidsNJ, but with a more regional and detailed focus, it might be fun and work out in the end.
Some people come here and say I don’t present all the facts or have likened my writings to the National Enquirer (which I actually took as a huge compliment) or that I’m anti senior citizen and don’t have their support. The bottom line is, over the past week some great things have happened and if I can use this website to help promote Jackson on a larger level while helping local businesses, organizations and charities, then to me that is satisfaction enough.
If I ruffle some feathers along the way, so be it, you can’t please everyone. Sometimes I write some pretty nasty satire and I’m not afraid to go for the jugular (It’s a Marine thing), other times I’ll speak my mind freely, it’s what has always worked for me and there’s no reason to discontinue poking and proding when it’s due or to sensationalize something when people have their head in the sand or draw attention to things that are just wrong.
This week, this blog was accepted into Google News syndication which was pretty exciting for business reasons in itself, but it felt good to have something so new included. We had an awesome night at the BlueClaws game the other day and my daughter go to sing in the press box (well that was mostly due to GoKidsNJ and Yosi) and I realized that this is a good thing and I should continue investing spare time into it when I can.
Today, I was shocked to see my Chris Christie article was quoted on the Christie website along with quotes from NJN and the New York Times. It’s one of those things that make you say ‘wow!” and reinforces the need for a Jackson community web site on this level.
Here’s the article: http://www.christiefornj.com/blog/2009/05/13/supporter-alert—at-last-nights-debate-chris-hits-it-out-of-the-park
The 2009 GoKidsNJ New Jersey Spring & Summer Event Calendar
April 1, 2009 by Phil Stilton
Filed under Jackson Activities, Opinions
Our 2009 online envent calendar has been completed and is available here and at www.gokidsnj.com. We have listed over 1,000 activities from April through September that are suitable for families. All year long, over 300 businesses send us their event postings and we compile them by season, but this year, we decided to combine spring and summer.
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2009 New Jersey Summer Event Calendar |
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600 things to do this summer in New Jersey for Families
March 25, 2009 by Phil Stilton
Filed under Jackson Activities
This past weekend, GoKidsNJ was updated with 600 new things to do this upcoming summer in New Jersey. For 5 years, GoKidsNJ has been the leading online resource for New Jersey Parents looking for quality and fun family entertainment. Over 2.5 million readers visit GoKidsNJ each year.
The new calendar entries include Fairs, Festivals, Plays, Theatre, Shore Events, Nature Events and much much more. In 2004, I started GoKidsNJ just as an online database for my wife and my friends to share interesting upcoming events with each other and before I knew it, I had hundreds of regional New Jersey event planners and business owners contributing to the process.
Each year, over 3,000 events are listed in GoKidsNJ from around the state. Visit www.gokidsnj.com to see more details. The new calendars will be published in the next couple of days.
What to do in NJ this weekend 3/6-3/8 2009
March 4, 2009 by Phil Stilton
Filed under Jackson Activities, Opinions
A list of NJ area events suitable for the entire family for the weekend starting March 6, 2009. This event listing is provided by GoKidsNJ, NJ’s premier resource for family events and travel planning.
Friday, March 6, 2009
| Paula Cole Event Information Paula Cole Date: March 06,2009 Location: 100 South St., Morristown, NJ 07960 Get More Information: Paula Cole |
| Ann Hampton Callaway Event Information Ann Hampton Callaway Date: March 06,2009 Location: 457 Shirley Rd., Elmer, NJ 08318 Get More Information: Ann Hampton Callaway |
| East Lynne Theater Company presents Sherlock Holmes Adventure Of The Speckled Band Event Information The Speckled Band Date: March 06,2009 Location: 500 Hughes St., Cape May, NJ 08204 Get More Information: East Lynne Theater Company presents Sherlock Holmes Adventure Of The Speckled Band |
| 14th Annual Atlantic City RV & Camping Show Event Information RV & Camping Show Date: March 06,2009 Location: 1 Miss America Way, Atlantic City, NJ 08401 Get More Information: 14th Annual Atlantic City RV & Camping Show |
| JC Fridays Event Information JC Fridays Date: March 06,2009 Location: Citywide, Jersey City, NJ 07302 Get More Information: JC Fridays |
| Home Show Event Information Home Show Date: March 06,2009 Location: 97 Sunfield Ave., Edison, NJ 08837 Get More Information: Home Show |
| National Association of Women Artists: Celebrating 120 Years Event Information Celebrating 120 Years Date: March 06,2009 Location: 733 Lily Lake Road, Oceanville, NJ 08231 Get More Information: National Association of Women Artists: Celebrating 120 Years |
Saturday, March 7, 2009
| A Midsummer Night’s Dream Event Information NJ Theatre Alliance’s Family Week at the Theatre Date: March 07,2009 Location: Appel Farm Arts and Music Center Get More Information: A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| Celtic Legends Event Information Celtic Legends Date: March 07,2009 Location: 100 South St., Morristown, NJ 07960 Get More Information: Celtic Legends |
| Winter Waterfowl Walk Event Information Winter Waterfowl Walk Date: March 07,2009 Location: Morris Pesin Dr., Jersey City, NJ 07305 Get More Information: Winter Waterfowl Walk |
| Eyesights 2009 – Photography Show Event Information Photography Show Date: March 07,2009 Location: 620 Broad St. (Route 35), Shrewsbury, NJ 07702 Get More Information: Eyesights 2009 – Photography Show |
| Dr. Seuss Celebration Event Information Dr. Seuss Celebration Date: March 07,2009 Location: 300 Ocean Ave., Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742 Get More Information: Dr. Seuss Celebration |
| Happily Ever After-A Cinderella Tale Event Information A Cinderella Tale Date: March 07,2009 Location: 300 Pompton Rd., Wayne, NJ 07470 Get More Information: Happily Ever After-A Cinderella Tale |
| Solas Event Information Solas Date: March 07,2009 Location: 457 Shirley Road, Elmer, NJ 08318 Get More Information: Solas |
| A Conversation with Solas Hosted by Gene Shay Event Information Solas Hosted by Gene Shay Date: March 07,2009 Location: 457 Shirley Road, Elmer, NJ 08318 Get More Information: A Conversation with Solas Hosted by Gene Shay |
| 12th Annual USA Memory Championship Event Information “The Olympics of the Mind” Date: March 07,2009 Location: Con Edison Grand Auditorium, 4 Irving Place (14th Street) New York, NY Get More Information: 12th Annual USA Memory Championship |
Sunday, March 8, 2009
| St Patrick’s Day Event Information St Patrick’s Day Date: March 08,2009 Location: 4265 Atlantic Ave., Farmingdale, NJ 07727 Get More Information: St Patrick’s Day |
| Cinderella Event Information New Jersey Ballet Company Date: March 08,2009 Location: The Community Theatre at Mayo Center for the Performing Arts Get More Information: Cinderella |
| Forsysthe National Wildlife Refuge Winter’s Finale on the Drive Event Information Come join us as we explore wildlife drive caravan style! Catch one last glimpse of the winter birds before they begin their migrations. We will provide loaner binoculars and hand-held radios. Date: March 08,2009 Location: 800 Great Creek Road, Ocenaville, NJ 08231 Get More Information: Forsysthe National Wildlife Refuge Winter’s Finale on the Drive |
